Upfront Ventures was created 20 years ago as one of the original VC funds in Los Angeles. Back then only 15% of our dollars were invested locally whereas today 50% of our dollars are invested in LA. MORE

Product teams have been repeating the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mantra for a decade now, without re-evaluating whether it’s the right way to maximize learning while pleasing the customer. Well, it’s not the best system. It’s selfish and it hurts customers. MORE

Every boss and decision maker is convinced that he or she is able to look objectively at any problem, and make an unbiased decision. Some typically worry about biases in their team, but rarely think of themselves as a source of bias. MORE

Happy New Year Everyone. Yesterday we focused on the past , today we are going to focus on the future, specifically this year we are now in. Here’s what I expect to happen this year: Trump will hit the ground running, cutting corporate and personal taxes, and eliminating the preferential treatment of carried interest capital gains. MORE

What is an executive summary? An executive summary is the brief introduction to a business plan. It should describe your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights. What should an executive summary include? Who you are. MORE

I’ve come to despise the phrase “culture fit.” ” I don’t remember when I first heard it, but it was many years ago. Over time, it became woven into the world of entrepreneurship, as companies used it as a primary frame of reference for hiring. MORE

So you’ve developed a game-changing product, formed a business with a killer team, quit your job, and are rolling the product out to market. Your business is the next unicorn, and all is good in the world. Fantastic. Now only one thing is inhibiting your company’s growth: you have no money. For many founders of high-growth startups, bootstrapping has limits. Read more >. The post What Belongs in a Startup’s Pitch Deck? appeared first on The Gust Blog. MORE

An exec at a company I’m an investor in sent this to me this morning. Does this feel like your life at your company? I’m an enormous fan of Eric Ries and The Lean Startup. His, and Steve Blank’s, thinking and writing changed how we approach startups. MORE

The anti-diversity manifesto written by a mystery Googler has put a spotlight on diversity efforts in the tech industry. Anti-diversity proponents say that meritocracy justifies the lack of diversity in tech. But the real question is: Does meritocracy work? MORE

When you’re up to your neck in alligators, don’t forget the goal was to drain the swamp. I love teaching because I learn something new every class. This time it was, “Don’t let process distract you from finding the strategy.”. MORE

Professionals working with computers are constantly aware of the challenges associated with maintaining these servers and keeping them cool at all times. Sometimes even the most experienced professionals have a hard time. MORE

I was having coffee with the CEO of a new startup, listening to her puzzle through how to communicate to potential customers. She was an academic on leave from Stanford now selling SAAS software to large companies, but was being inundated with marketing communications advice. “My MORE

What will the future hold? It’s a question every VC asks themselves and the entrepreneurs they invest in. Some conclude that certain sectors or technologies — like AI, blockchain, VR — will define the next decade. MORE

Urbanization is a defining process of modern life. More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, and the number of urban citizens around the world is projected to rise to 66% by 2050. MORE

This morning’s launch of Maps for Unity brings the full stack of location tools to the world’s most popular game development platform and shows that location and maps are the new building blocks for AR and VR games. We think the maps look amazing and are insanely fast. MORE

I was recently invited to speak at the Management and Entrepreneurial Skills Summit held in Delhi, India. My video (as I could physically not be there) was streamed live for the session on building up an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the survival of the fastest. MORE

BuzzFeed. It conjures up a range of emotions anytime I’ve privately expressed my opinion to thought leaders in our industry that I believe it is one of the most innovative companies in digital media. MORE

Getting ready for our next semester’s class, I asked my Teaching Assistant why I hadn’t seen the posters for our new class around campus. Hearing the litany of excuses that followed –“It was raining.” (The The posters go inside the building.) “We We still have time.” (We MORE

Diversity is a hot topic, but what is not often discussed is the fact that diverse teams are more innovative. Read more about why diversity is an innovation metric. The post Diversity is an Innovation Metric appeared first on GrasshopperHerder.com. MORE

The Venture Capital business is full of great firms that were founded by entrepreneurs/operators who became investors mid/late career. From Gene Kleiner and Tom Perkins in the early 70s to Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz at the end of the 00s, this is the iconic model of the venture capital firm and the formula that built Silicon Valley into what it is today. MORE

2016 was one heck of a year. It started with a fairly big shakeup professionally. I didn’t end up taking much time off; instead I started meeting with lots of people and looking for my next adventure. In July, 2016 I announced the launch of my new startup, Highline BETA. Over the second half of […]. Personal Development MORE

VC evaluation of seed-stage startups can seem arbitrary or imitative at times. Internally, the scarcity of tangible business metrics – product usage or revenue multiples for example – can make an investment decision feel daunting. Presented with various unknowns from any one pitch, VCs often lack an existing information infrastructure to examine in forming an opinion. MORE

Angel/seed rounds used to be done via priced equity securities, either common or preferred. Then, starting about ten years ago, we started to see convertible debt being used in the angel and seed rounds. By 2010 this was the norm and Paul Graham tweeted this in Aug 2010: Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note. Paul Graham (@paulg) August 28, 2010. Which led me to write this blog post here on AVC. MORE

I came across this index from Bloomberg that tracks the health of the US startup ecosystem. This index “incorporates both the money flowing into VC-backed startups, as well as the exits that are making money for investors. MORE

Entrepreneurship is an adventure of creativity, self-education, and personal development—a passionate labor of love. Now imagine layering on power-ups. Grow Technology apps business tools productivity MORE

Early in my career, I was indoctrinated with a Cardinal Rule of User Interface: A user interface should minimize surprise. Have you always hated tabs inside dialog boxes? Understandable, but users know how they work, so you have to use them. MORE

Summer season is here along with celebrations like Easter , Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. You surely want to celebrate these with your loved ones, but we know the life becomes so busy when you start your new business or try to make your business grow. MORE

Results from Round 14 of the Web Framework Benchmarks project are now available! This round's results are limited to the physical hardware environment only, but cloud results will be included again in the next round. Recent improvements. MORE

Burn rates are meaningless in isolation. Iteration time is a critical aspect of starting a new business and we've noted a few misconceptions. The post Iteration = Time to Learn, Not Time to Build appeared first on GrasshopperHerder.com. MORE

Automobile manufacturers shipped 88 million cars in 2016. Tesla shipped 76,000. Yet Wall Street values Tesla higher than any other U.S. car manufacturer. What explains this more than 1,000 to 1 discrepancy in valuation? The future. MORE

I’ve had a 30-year love-hate relationship with mission statements. I’ve read thousands. I love it when a mission statement defines a business so well that it feels like strategy —which does happen—and I hate it when a mission statement is generic, stale, and completely useless. MORE

When it comes to creating a winning strategy to keep your employees happy and productive, it's really not a matter of science. Company Culture Grow company culture employee engagement health and wellness productivity workplace productivity MORE

2017

Happy New Year Everyone. Yesterday we focused on the past , today we are going to focus on the future, specifically this year we are now in. Here’s what I expect to happen this year: Trump will hit the ground running, cutting corporate and personal taxes, and eliminating the preferential treatment of carried interest capital gains.

Getting ready for our next semester’s class, I asked my Teaching Assistant why I hadn’t seen the posters for our new class around campus. Hearing the litany of excuses that followed –“It was raining.” (The The posters go inside the building.) “We We still have time.” (We

This morning’s launch of Maps for Unity brings the full stack of location tools to the world’s most popular game development platform and shows that location and maps are the new building blocks for AR and VR games. We think the maps look amazing and are insanely fast.

Results from Round 14 of the Web Framework Benchmarks project are now available! This round's results are limited to the physical hardware environment only, but cloud results will be included again in the next round. Recent improvements.

I was recently invited to speak at the Management and Entrepreneurial Skills Summit held in Delhi, India. My video (as I could physically not be there) was streamed live for the session on building up an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the survival of the fastest.

What will the future hold? It’s a question every VC asks themselves and the entrepreneurs they invest in. Some conclude that certain sectors or technologies — like AI, blockchain, VR — will define the next decade.

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I was recently invited to speak at the Management and Entrepreneurial Skills Summit held in Delhi, India. My video (as I could physically not be there) was streamed live for the session on building up an entrepreneurial ecosystem and the survival of the fastest.

What will the future hold? It’s a question every VC asks themselves and the entrepreneurs they invest in. Some conclude that certain sectors or technologies — like AI, blockchain, VR — will define the next decade.

So you’ve developed a game-changing product, formed a business with a killer team, quit your job, and are rolling the product out to market. Your business is the next unicorn, and all is good in the world. Fantastic. Now only one thing is inhibiting your company’s growth: you have no money. For many founders of high-growth startups, bootstrapping has limits. Read more >. The post What Belongs in a Startup’s Pitch Deck? appeared first on The Gust Blog.

Burn rates are meaningless in isolation. Iteration time is a critical aspect of starting a new business and we've noted a few misconceptions. The post Iteration = Time to Learn, Not Time to Build appeared first on GrasshopperHerder.com.

Professionals working with computers are constantly aware of the challenges associated with maintaining these servers and keeping them cool at all times. Sometimes even the most experienced professionals have a hard time.

The Venture Capital business is full of great firms that were founded by entrepreneurs/operators who became investors mid/late career. From Gene Kleiner and Tom Perkins in the early 70s to Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz at the end of the 00s, this is the iconic model of the venture capital firm and the formula that built Silicon Valley into what it is today.

Automobile manufacturers shipped 88 million cars in 2016. Tesla shipped 76,000. Yet Wall Street values Tesla higher than any other U.S. car manufacturer. What explains this more than 1,000 to 1 discrepancy in valuation? The future.

I’ve come to despise the phrase “culture fit.” ” I don’t remember when I first heard it, but it was many years ago. Over time, it became woven into the world of entrepreneurship, as companies used it as a primary frame of reference for hiring.

I’ve had a 30-year love-hate relationship with mission statements. I’ve read thousands. I love it when a mission statement defines a business so well that it feels like strategy —which does happen—and I hate it when a mission statement is generic, stale, and completely useless.

Product teams have been repeating the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mantra for a decade now, without re-evaluating whether it’s the right way to maximize learning while pleasing the customer. Well, it’s not the best system. It’s selfish and it hurts customers.

VC evaluation of seed-stage startups can seem arbitrary or imitative at times. Internally, the scarcity of tangible business metrics – product usage or revenue multiples for example – can make an investment decision feel daunting. Presented with various unknowns from any one pitch, VCs often lack an existing information infrastructure to examine in forming an opinion.

Every boss and decision maker is convinced that he or she is able to look objectively at any problem, and make an unbiased decision. Some typically worry about biases in their team, but rarely think of themselves as a source of bias.

The anti-diversity manifesto written by a mystery Googler has put a spotlight on diversity efforts in the tech industry. Anti-diversity proponents say that meritocracy justifies the lack of diversity in tech. But the real question is: Does meritocracy work?

Summer season is here along with celebrations like Easter , Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. You surely want to celebrate these with your loved ones, but we know the life becomes so busy when you start your new business or try to make your business grow.

I came across this index from Bloomberg that tracks the health of the US startup ecosystem. This index “incorporates both the money flowing into VC-backed startups, as well as the exits that are making money for investors.

When you’re up to your neck in alligators, don’t forget the goal was to drain the swamp. I love teaching because I learn something new every class. This time it was, “Don’t let process distract you from finding the strategy.”.

What is an executive summary? An executive summary is the brief introduction to a business plan. It should describe your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights. What should an executive summary include? Who you are.

Early in my career, I was indoctrinated with a Cardinal Rule of User Interface: A user interface should minimize surprise. Have you always hated tabs inside dialog boxes? Understandable, but users know how they work, so you have to use them.

2016 was one heck of a year. It started with a fairly big shakeup professionally. I didn’t end up taking much time off; instead I started meeting with lots of people and looking for my next adventure. In July, 2016 I announced the launch of my new startup, Highline BETA. Over the second half of […]. Personal Development

Diversity is a hot topic, but what is not often discussed is the fact that diverse teams are more innovative. Read more about why diversity is an innovation metric. The post Diversity is an Innovation Metric appeared first on GrasshopperHerder.com.

Angel/seed rounds used to be done via priced equity securities, either common or preferred. Then, starting about ten years ago, we started to see convertible debt being used in the angel and seed rounds. By 2010 this was the norm and Paul Graham tweeted this in Aug 2010: Convertible notes have won. Every investment so far in this YC batch (and there have been a lot) has been done on a convertible note. Paul Graham (@paulg) August 28, 2010. Which led me to write this blog post here on AVC.

I was having coffee with the CEO of a new startup, listening to her puzzle through how to communicate to potential customers. She was an academic on leave from Stanford now selling SAAS software to large companies, but was being inundated with marketing communications advice. “My

An exec at a company I’m an investor in sent this to me this morning. Does this feel like your life at your company? I’m an enormous fan of Eric Ries and The Lean Startup. His, and Steve Blank’s, thinking and writing changed how we approach startups.

When it comes to creating a winning strategy to keep your employees happy and productive, it's really not a matter of science. Company Culture Grow company culture employee engagement health and wellness productivity workplace productivity